Pay the Piper
by liron-aria
Summary: There was never any doubt that Oliver Queen would take down Ricardo Diaz. The only question was the cost.


A/N: Guess who's back, ready to break all your hearts!

This is based solely on the trailer for 3.18, as I have not watched anything past Brothers In Arms. Which pissed me off on... a lot of levels.

So please, read, enjoy, and _feed me your tears_.

Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow, The Flash, or any of these characters besides Nanette Cole. Everyone else is property of the CW and DC Comics.

* * *

 _I think we should take some space, Oliver._

That's - is that the last thing she said to him? Felicity can't remember.

 _You can't go in there alone!_

Except he could, and he did, and he _won_.

Oliver won against Diaz and his men, but might be losing the most important battle of all - the fight for his life.

Felicity forces herself to hit play on her tablet, watching the grainy and corrupted footage. Oliver was right when he said if he got Diaz, it would all be over.

Because Oliver _made sure_ it was all over.

She watches as past-Oliver moves as she's never seen him move before, precise and deadly, every arrow flying true whether he looks where he aims or not.

And why wouldn't they? Arrows are Oliver's lifeblood, his unwavering servants.

But she forgot - they all forget, sometimes - that Oliver is more than the suit, more than the Hood, more than his bow and arrows. Every punch past-Oliver throws, every kick, is almost graceful in its brutality. There's no room for error, no mercy. Every thug who goes down, _stays_ down.

Felicity's breath hitches when a bullet makes it through past-Oliver's guard, when the laws of physics proves to be an uncaring mistress and and plaster walls can't completely protect him from semi-automatic gunfire.

A drop of water falls on the screen, distorting the image as the camera angle switches, because she can see the dark stains of past-Oliver's blood spreading across his suit. She can hear the soft beep of the heart monitor in present-Oliver's room behind her.

Ricardo Diaz is a monster. Past-him has weight on past-Oliver and he _uses it_ , and Felicity can't stop a sob when she sees past-Diaz _snap her husband's wrist like a toothpick._

Past-Diaz hurls him to the floor and goes to crush past-Oliver's hand with his boot, but past-Oliver is too quick, rolling out of the way and reappearing from the shadows like a vengeful demon.

His bow switches hands so his injured hand only has to hold the bow loosely, leaving his good hand to do the more agile job of firing arrows and flechettes and _compensating for his injured everything._

Oliver's ambidextrous. She's seen him fight for years. Why is she still surprised?

Past-Diaz finally, _finally_ , goes down, and Felicity watches past-Oliver slip and stumble before jamming something into the side of past-Diaz's neck. And then she watches him _crawl_ away and -

She shoves the tablet aside and sobs.

* * *

Nanette Cole, MD, has known for years that one day, she'll have Oliver Queen on her operating table.

Not as the Mayor, no, though that certainly won't surprise her.

As the Green Arrow.

She had her suspicions years ago, when Mr. Queen was brought in after a 'motorcycle accident' but it had no relevance to his treatment, so she didn't say anything. He was officially cleared by the SCPD, anyway.

But.

She kept her eye out. No one would notice unless they were looking for it, but Oliver Queen and Starling - Star - City's vigilante tended to disappear and reappear at the same time. Nanette's from Gotham, cut her teeth in Leslie Thompson's clinic.

Leslie Thompson, who works with the Batman, for all that she hates his methods.

Shadowy protectors don't bother her, not when Star City is second only to Gotham in terms of corruption and crime. It sure wasn't the SCPD who made sure federal medical aid made it to the hospitals, instead of being taken by gangbangers.

She's had her doubts over the years, but it's a nagging thought, one that settles in her bones, that Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow. Oliver Queen, who gives them hope, who _loves_ this city. There's a look in his eye sometimes on TV, and gossip from her brother who works security for the Mayor.

And then the green-hooded vigilante brought Laurel Lance to her, and Nanette _knew_. There were a few notable icons in Laurel Lance's orbit, and Oliver Queen was the biggest. Nanette had no more suspicions, just the stone-cold knowledge that one day, it would be the man who carried her in under her care, just as grievously wounded.

She's prayed every day since then that she'll be able to save him, when she couldn't save the Black Canary.

* * *

Barry hasn't felt this scared, this _powerless_ , in what feels like a lifetime. Was it when he watched Savitar killed Iris? When his _Mom_ died?

Who knows.

What he does know is the feel of Oliver's blood making his gloves slick. He knows what it feels like to carry 190 lbs of dead - _no no no please God no_ \- weight. What it feels like to run at his limit, but still be so tightly in control of every. single. motion. so he didn't jostle Oliver and make his injuries - _God there were so many and they didn't disappear like Barry's did_ \- any worse.

His thoughts are fuzzy and he feels shocky and he can't seem to remember why he came to Star City in the first place. It was important. For a case. He remembers being vaguely eager because teaming up with Oliver is always fun and he can needle Oliver now without getting murdered for it. But the lair - _base, Ollie hates it when he calls it a lair_ \- was empty and quiet save for a monitor with Oliver's position blinking on it.

He and Oliver haven't really _talked_ since the whole double-wedding thing, though that's more because Iris is still - justifiably - sore. He knows it was mostly Felicity who pushed for it, and that Oliver has never been able to say no to her. And John's their friend first and foremost, so the three of them can do whatever the Hell they want, as far as Barry's concerned.

Oliver's eyes are really blue.

It's a dumb thing to think about, but he's fixated on it for some reason. Maybe it's because of the way they _blazed_ when Oliver was coughing up blood and still insisting that Barry take Diaz to the precinct before coming back for him.

He doesn't want his last memory of Oliver to just be blue eyes.

The doctor comes out of Oliver's room and Barry blurs to his feet. It's been hours, he thinks, or maybe just minutes. His sense of time is iffy thanks to the Speed Force.

"Did I - Did I get him in time?" He asks, "I tried not to make it worse, but with my speed -"

The doctor keeps her voice and expression gentle. "You did exactly what you needed to, Flash."

Flash.

He's still suited up. Oliver's not.

"He - you can't - he's -"

Top of his class and still failing to get the right words out.

"I've known his secret for a while," the doctor says in that same gentle voice, like she's talking to a spooked animal or scared child - _which one is Barry, does anyone know?_ "The rest of the staff knows I'm pro-vigilante and just sends them my way."

Yeah. Barry remembers an attendant saying ' _get the vigilante doc_ ' before he sped away and found her himself.

"He's my friend," Barry whispers. His brother, his hero, his mentor. "He's my friend."

* * *

 _Never let a brother go into battle alone._

Except, Oliver had been alone against Diaz and his crew. Not the whole time, thank God, but alone when it _mattered_.

John doesn't think he's going to forget Barry's bewildered and indignant face any time soon.

 _Why aren't you suited up?!_

Barry's a good kid; he and Oliver have never dragged him into Team Arrow's interpersonal drama. He's not even sure Barry fully knows what went down with the League of Assassins years ago, just that Oliver needed his help, and he gave it.

Just like today.

Yesterday.

It's awful o'clock in the morning; John doesn't really know.

He went to the hospital after Barry left, but then his son needed him, and then Felicity forwarded what footage she could cobble together of Oliver's fight, and he and Lyla headed over to ARGUS to try and make sense of it all.

The fight, if the carnage can even be called that, is… _savage_.

"My God," John mutters, "I don't think I've ever seen him fight like this."

"… I have." Lyla sounds distant and shellshocked and horrified. "In ARGUS footage. Even a few years ago - _this is the man who took down Ra's al Ghul."_

John remembers now. Oliver killed one Ra's al Ghul and defeated another, and killed the only man said to ever match his own predecessor's prowess. He remembers that Oliver's success rate in his first year home when he was alone in the field was just as high as it is now, with a team at his back.

Except.

There _is_ no team, is there?

John walked away. Rene, Dinah, and Curtis walked away.

Oliver and Felicity stayed behind, and _Felicity doesn't go into the field._

What had any of them expected? That Oliver would just stop being the Green Arrow if they weren't around? That he would bring others to his cause? Oliver didn't even want to bring in Rene, Curtis, and Dinah to begin with. Hadn't wanted Laurel or Thea in the field. Or even Roy, until Roy had been infected with the mirakuru and he'd essentially had no choice.

Oliver started his crusade alone, and haven't they all accused him of still going it alone? Of arrogance, of not letting them in and giving them the trust they _deserved_ , of not putting the city first.

How was it supposed to end any other way but this?

John dimly wonders what ARGUS footage Lyla's talking about. Ever since she became Director, she's looked at Oliver differently. How does his _wife_ know how his partner fights better than _he_ does?

John leans forward, looking at the video carefully. "Can you zoom in on that? What Oliver stabbed into Diaz's neck?"

Lyla tries, but to no avail. She shakes her head. "This is too rough. I can send it to the techs to get it cleaned up and maybe restored, but given the angle, the only real way to know is to retrieve whatever it is from the scene itself."

The scene.

John watches as Oliver stumbles off Diaz, crawling - _crawling, God, how beaten down was he?_ \- away, and then watches Barry blur onto the scene. The camera angle allows him to see the horror and devastation on the speedster's face, but there's no sound to go with it.

John can easily imagine the conversation from Oliver and Barry's body language, though. Barry, terrified and fretting, Oliver defiant and determined. Barry wanting to get Oliver to help _immediately_ , and Oliver demanding Diaz be dealt with first.

The city comes first. The Mission comes first.

He knew on Day One that Oliver's crusade would take his life. He just fooled himself over years of watching Oliver get back up from every blow that it _wouldn't_.

He doesn't want to be the Green Arrow this way.

* * *

Dinah rubs her eyes, trying to block out the glare from the badge on her desk. It feels like a condemnation instead of a reward, but she can't bring herself to turn it over.

Ricardo Diaz stumbled into the station battered and bruised and then _confessed_ \- to _everything_. To the drugs, the money, terrorising the people on his payroll, Cayden James' cabal and death, and to a hundred other things the SCPD suspected him of but could never prove.

When Diaz confessed to framing the Mayor for being the Green Arrow, Dinah realised what happened.

 _Oliver took down Diaz._

Oliver Queen, one man, took down the monster holding the city hostage and handed him to the SCPD on a goddamn silver platter. She doesn't know how or why, but from the reports coming in, the Green Arrow did it all by himself.

 _How?_

She knows, intellectually, that Oliver is dangerous. That he's ruthless and terrifying. She's fought beside him and against him in the field, for God's sake.

She just never fully realised how restrained and controlled he was. It's a miracle Rene was the only one seriously injured when he, Dinah, and Curtis fought against him.

Nick drops another stack of papers on her desk, harried and exhilarated. The new Chief of Police is clean, vetted by Oliver, Felicity, and Curtis, and they've all got their jobs back. There's a fair amount of awe in Nick's eyes now, as he's seeing the Green Arrow's work for the first time without anti-vigilante goggles.

They have so much work to do, none of them will sleep for a _year_ , but it's the good kind of overworking. Gallons of coffee and everyone wired because _this_ is what the job's about, _this_ is why they all signed on to protect and serve.

This is a career-making case, yet all she feels is empty, because _they didn't do any of it._

Oliver did.

Oliver somehow took down Diaz's crew and forced an ironclad confession out of him.

Oliver, who trusted that bitch Black Siren, who put Rene in the hospital, who treated his team like pawns instead of partners.

Oliver, who loves Star City, who gave her a new lease on life, who serves the people as Mayor during the day, and protects them at night as the Green Arrow.

It's funny; through all the anger and betrayal and mistrust, Dinah realises she has never once doubted Oliver's commitment to the city.

Was it ever going to end any way but this?

There's a string of messages from Curtis on her phone, some updating her on Rene, and the rest asking about Oliver and if she's heard from John or Felicity. She hasn't responded to any of them yet, because _she doesn't know._

Felicity and Diggle aren't taking her calls, so beyond the Flash - the _Flash_ , not even one of _Star City's_ own protectors - appearing in front of her and telling her Oliver's in the hospital, she's in the dark.

She flips a page in her file and hopes the CSTs have some luck reconstructing the scene, because _damn_. She's still not sure it's possible for _one man_ to do all this.

But then, it's always been one man who led them.

* * *

William is scared and angry and a thousand other things when Raisa brings him to the hospital.

The soundtrack in his head is nothing but an agonised scream and he grits his teeth shut just in case it spills out.

This is like that awful Island all over again.

He said he understood why his Dad has to be the Green Arrow, but he doesn't, not at all, because all he wants to do is rewind time to when Dad stopped being the Green Arrow and promised not to make him an orphan.

There are several people clustered around his Dad's room and William suddenly realises that he _hates_ them, every last one, because _they_ get to be _fine_ , while his Dad is -

While Dad is -

Raisa greets them in a frigidly polite voice that tells William she's _beyond_ angry and gone straight into unadulterated fury.

Raisa's known his Dad since he was a little boy, has told him plenty of fun embarrassing stories about Dad's childhood, while Dad protests and groans dramatically.

… Is Dad ever going to do that again?

Is he ever going to get to _hug_ his Dad again?

"What happened?" William demands when Felicity and Mr. Diggle stand to meet him. Every word hurts around the lump in his throat, but he's proud that his voice doesn't shake.

He thinks his Dad would be, too.

Felicity's mascara is smeared and her expression crumples like she's going to cry again. "Oliver went out to fight a bad guy, and he got really badly hurt."

William frowns. "But he's the Green Arrow. He's taken down _hundreds_ of bad guys and been fine!"

A dark-haired lady - Dinah Drake, if William remembers right - sighs tightly. "It's not that simple, kid -"

"Then make it simple!"

There's a part of William that's horrified at how rude he's being, and he can just picture his Mom's disapproving Look™.

But Mom's not here, and Dad's almost not.

"You guys all look fine," William says resentfully, "Why is Dad the only one hurt?"

Mr. Diggle steps forward and says gently, "Your Dad went to fight the bad guy himself. And he won - he _won_ \- but he got hurt in the process."

What?

That doesn't make sense.

"But - you're his partner," William says helplessly, brow furrowed in confusion. "You always have his back."

Guilt. Guilt is what he sees flash across Mr. Diggle's face, across _all_ their faces, and his heart rate picks up.

The tall black man at the back - Curtis Whose-last-name-he-can't-remember - replies quietly, "We had a fight. Your Dad went out on his own."

"Curtis!" Felicity and Miss Drake snap.

"No, he should hear this," Mr. Curtis insists, voice wavering like William refused to let his, "Oliver's his _father_. He deserves to know why."

William rocks back into Raisa, feeling a hot wave of tears wash over his eyes. He doesn't think he's going to like what Mr. Curtis says next.

"We all got in a fight with your Dad," Mr. Curtis explains slowly, sadly, as if Dad's _already gone_ , "So we all went our separate ways to cool down."

No.

"So no one was around when your Dad decided to go after Diaz."

"But - didn't he call you guys for backup? He wouldn't just go fight alone!"

None of this makes any sense, and William's even more scared and angry and lost than before. He feels like he's going to cry - he is crying.

"Oliver didn't - didn't tell anyone, William," Felicity says, stumbling over her own words and tears.

"You're his friends!" William yells, even turning on Felicity. "You _married_ him! _WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE WHEN HE NEEDED YOU?!"_

"William -"

 _"NO! YOU ABANDONED HIM!"_

And William's angry, angry, angry and he can barely see through his tears as he bolts out of Raisa's hold and barrels into his Dad's room. He sobs as he shoves a cart in front of the door, blocking anyone from coming in, because they're all _useless_ , so they can _stay_ out there.

 _You look after him, okay?_

 _But he's the Green Arrow!_

Where's Auntie Thea? Shouldn't she be here?

Dad looks like Auntie Thea used to, pale and still on the hospital bed, except there's a ventilator tube taped to his mouth and a lot more bandages and wires everywhere.

Mom was a nurse; she'd know what all the wires and machines meant. She'd know when Dad would wake up. For the first time in a long while, William wishes his parents were together, because if Mom were here, she'd be able to take care of Dad, he just _knows_ it.

"Mom," he whispers, "You gotta tell Dad he can't come to Heaven yet. Tell him to come home."

William clasps his Dad's hand and tries to wipe away his tears, trying to be brave like his Dad.

 _You look after him, okay?_

"I'll protect you," he says, hiccoughing on a sob, "I'll protect you, like _they_ didn't."

He promises, because that's what his father would have done, even as more tears stream down his face.

"Come back, Dad. I'm scared. Please, _you have to come back."_

* * *

Oliver, hooked up to monitors and IVs and a ventilator, drifts to a place with no pain and no scars, a place with Laurel's bright eyes and Tommy's infectious laughter.

He sleeps on.

* * *

A/N: Will Oliver wake up? Will he join Laurel and Tommy on the Other Side? Who knows!

Fun fact: Lyla will retrieve the flechette Oliver stabbed into Diaz and find traces of vitura in it - Oliver ordered Diaz to confess. It was dilute enough that by the time Diaz snaps out of it, there will be none left in his system to show up on a tox screen, though plenty of other things probably will.

Funner fact: If John Constantine was around, he'd realise that Oliver is being protected by the spirit of Lian Yu, which is actually the only reason he survived long enough for Barry to get him to the hospital in the first place.

So, thoughts? Please, let me know!


End file.
